Nordic Voices [Drama On 3]

Nordic Voices

by Anna Bro, Arne Lygre and Jonas Gardell

First broadcast in 2015 as part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season, three short plays explore contemporary life in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

The first play, An Emergency by Anna Bro, is set at a Danish summerhouse. A mother (Deborah Findlay) and father (Tim McInnerny) have laid out a birthday spread for their daughter and anticipate her imminent arrival from the ferry port. However, nerves are frayed. This will be the first time they will have seen their daughter since her breakdown and both parents are desperately worried about the reunion. So when a group of teenagers, armed with a crate of beer and a stereo, choose to loiter on the beach directly in front of their summerhouse, anxiety levels go through the roof. Ana Bro's drama explores parent-child dynamics within Danish family life, and themes which are instantly recognisable.

Anna Bro is an award-winning Danish playwright.

Cast:

Mum . . . . . . Deborah Findlay

Dad . . . . . Tim McInnerny

Lisbeth . . . . . Susan Jameson

Daughter . . . . . Rebecca Hamilton

Girl . . . . . Katie Redford

Girl . . . . . Evie Killip

Boy . . . . . George Watkins

Boy . . . . . Leo Wan

Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz from a literal translation by Anders Lundorph

Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

The second play, Nothing of Me by Arne Lygre, is an innovative and moving play for voices, which follows a woman's (Amanda Hale) grieving process over a year. It explores identity, and how much we are defined by what other people think about us.

Arne Lygre is a leading Norwegian playwright, and former writer-in-residence at Oslo's National Theatre.

Her . . . . . Amanda Hale

Him . . . . . Joel MacCormack

His Mother . . . . . Susan Jameson

Her Mother . . . . . Deborah Findlay

Her Son . . . . . Alexander Arnold

Adapted by Rebecca Lenkiewicz from a literal translation by May-Brit Akerholt

Director: Anders Lundorph

The final play, Wild Is The Wind by Jonas Gardell, tells the story of an interview between a religious young man and the Pastor from his local church. The young man describes a recent intimate encounter with another young man, and struggles to reconcile the church's doctrines with his own feelings. As with much of Jonas Gardell's work, the play explores homosexuality and the church, and challenges the perception of Sweden's liberalism surrounding LGBT rights.

Jonas Gardell is an extremely popular playwright, author, comedian in Sweden. He wrote the internationally renowned trilogy Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves about the impact of AIDS in the homosexual community in the early 1980s.

Pastor . . . . . Tim McInnerny

David . . . . . Matthew Tennyson

Youth Leader . . . . . Chris Pavlo

Tomas . . . . . Alexander Arnold

Translated by Nichola Smalley from a literal translation by Anders Lundorph

produced by Anders Lundorph and Sasha Yevtushenko.

A celebration of contemporary Nordic writing in three new short plays.